Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a heat exchanger for cooling a media flow, comprising a plurality of tubes, whereby the tubes are received at the ends in a respective tube sheet, whereby the tubes between the two tube sheets are received in a housing, which is connected to the tube sheet in a fluid-tight manner, whereby a coolant channel is formed by an outwardly directed shaped region along an outer wall delimiting the housing, whereby the coolant channel has an opening which is directed in the direction of the inner volume of the housing and via which the coolant channel is in fluid communication with the inner volume of the housing.
Description of the Background Art
The charge air, which is used in modern internal combustion engines to increase performance by means of a turbocharger, can be cooled by so-called charge air coolers so as to enable as great an increase in performance as possible. For this purpose, a heat transfer can be produced between the charge air and a coolant in a charge air cooler.
The charge air can be conveyed for cooling, for example, through tubes around which cooling air flows. An alternative design of a charge air cooler provides that the charge air is flowed through a plurality of tubes, while a liquid coolant flows around the tubes. The coolant itself can preferably be cooled again in a further heat exchanger to remove from the coolant the amount of heat that it has taken up from the charge air during the heat transfer.
DE 10 2006 043 526 A1 shows a charge air cooler comprising a plurality of tubes, which run between two collecting tanks and fluidically connect the collecting tanks to one another. The charge air to be cooled can be flowed through the collecting tanks and tubes. The tubes lead totally or partially through a chamber through which a coolant can flow. A heat transfer between the charge air and the coolant can be produced in this way, as a result of which cooling of the charge air can be achieved.
It is disadvantageous in the devices in the prior art that the through-flow of the heat exchanger with the coolant is not optimally designed, as a result of which so-called dead zones can occur which are characterized in that the coolant does not flow through them or flows only to a very small extent. Therefore, stagnation of the coolant can occur.
In particular due to the increasing charge air temperature in modern internal combustion engines at the inlet side of the heat exchanger, boiling of the coolant can occur, which has a disadvantageous effect on the cooling performance of the heat exchanger. This disadvantage arises especially often and markedly in charge air coolers in which the charge air and the coolant are conveyed in countercurrent to one another.